Facts & faces

Associated Press

Published 8:41 pm, Tuesday, February 5, 2013

ST. LOUIS — Chris Carpenter is unlikely to pitch for the Cardinals this season and his career may be over because of a nerve injury that kept him out most of last year.

General manager John Mozeliak said Tuesday that Carpenter has renewed numbness and some bruising in his right shoulder and hand. He will get an additional medical evaluation, but Mozeliak says Carpenter is unlikely to pitch again.

Carpenter had surgery in July for the nerve injury and returned to pitch three games down the stretch and three in the postseason.

Carpenter is 37 and is considered one of the best clutch pitchers in Cardinals history. He is 144-94 for his career and 10-4 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 postseason starts.

More baseball: Major League Baseball officials have asked the Miami News Times for records the alternative newspaper obtained for a story on alleged use of banned substances by several players. Miami New Times editor Chuck Strouse said Tuesday the paper had not yet decided how to respond. Strouse described the MLB move as a request and noted that the league does not have legal subpoena power. The newspaper reported last week that New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and other players had obtained human growth hormone and other banned substances from a now-closed Coral Gables clinic operated by Anthony Bosch. The story was based on clinic records the New Times said it obtained.

Auto racing: Carl Edwards and several other Sprint Cup stars give the new, faster Gen-6 race car a thumbs-up after a Goodyear tire test Tuesday at Darlington Raceway. Edwards says his digital speedometer on his Ford Fusion hit 193 mph right before entering turn three, a typically unheard of speed at the ultra-tricky track. Edwards says the car was so fast he couldn't look at the speedometer any longer before having to look into the corner. Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Juan Pablo Montoya were also at Darlington for the daylong session. NASCAR teams have previously tested the car at Daytona International Speedway and Charlotte Motorspeedway. Edwards found the new machine to be faster and that racers should expect better handling and tighter racing at the Southern 500.

College basketball: Dick Vitale will call Final Four games for the first time this year, when his voice will be heard only outside the United States. ESPN announced Tuesday that the 73-year-old Hall of Famer will work a semifinal and the championship for ESPN International. The telecasts go to 150 countries and territories across 35 broadcast networks in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. Vitale has called more than 2,000 college basketball games since joining ESPN in 1979. He has been a studio analyst for the network's NCAA Tournament coverage every year since — but never announced a Final Four game because NBC and then CBS have owned the rights. Brad Nessler will handle play-by-play from Atlanta alongside Vitale on April 6 and 8. Jay Bilas will be the analyst for the other semifinal.

Soccer: When the United States takes the field Wednesday in Honduras for the start of the final round of World Cup qualifying, Landon Donovan will be missing. The 30-year-old midfielder, a veteran of three World Cups and the American career leader in goals and assists, is taking a break from soccer following the Los Angeles Galaxy's second straight Major League Soccer title.